Wide-Angle Photographic
Lens.--Borne on the mighty wings of the Strategic Air Command's inter-continental reconnaissance bombers, American cameras "seeing" through unusually sharp wide-angle lenses can now record and bring back accurate information from any spot on the globe.
One of the important keys to the keen "vision" of the world-ranging RB-36 bombers of the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Air Force officers disclosed, is a Bausch & Lomb photographic lens which enables a single aerial photograph to show three times as much area as was previously possible from the same altitude.
The lens, called the Metrogon, was developed by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. of Rochester, N. Y., and has been in use for some time but it has just been disclosed that Air Force developments now enable it to range the world in seeking out and recording vital ground information.
Key to the importance of the coated Metrogon lens is its combination of very wide angle with sharpness and freedom from distortion at the relatively high speed of f/6.3. The Metrogon covers 90 deg. of field and has a focal length of 5~ in. So clear is its definition that a photo from an altitude of a mile can show separate railroad ties anywhere within a two-mile radius beneath the plane, according to tests by the Bausch & Lomb Scientific Bureau. The distortion resulting from all photo lenses, especially those taking in a wide angle, has been almost completely eliminated in the Metrogon, thereby greatly increasing the fidelity of reconnaissance photos made through it.
In addition to Metrogons, the RB-36's cameras use two other Bausch & Lomb lenses, a 20-in. f/5.6 telephoto, and a 24-in. f/6.0 lens that provides 9-by-18-in. negatives.
The reconnaissance bombers of the 5th Wing are currently flying roundthe-clock training missions. The huge 10-engine, jet-supplemented air-craft are able to perform at extremely high speeds and altitudes in obtaining aerial photographs and reconnaissance data under any weather conditions, day or night.
The Travis Base planes are capable of taking clear, sharp photographs in fine detail from the thin cold air of extremely high altitudes where the phantom aircraft cannot be heard and scarcely be seen from the ground. Sometimes referred to as a flying laboratory, the RB-36 almost bulges at the seams with aerial cameras of various sizes, shapes and focal lengths. Each camera is designed for a specific reconnaissance job and the aerial photographers are exceptionally skilled technicians.
The Truck That Goes Anywhere.--GI's who served in Europe during World War II still can recall with awe the feats of the Red Ball Express. Manned by sure-handed American truck drivers, big 6 X6 trucks--the "Army Workhorses"--roared through the streets and highways of France, Belgium and Germany, hauling vital supplies to onrushing allied armies.
If ever we need the Red Ball again, we have trucks that are faster, easier to drive, easier to maintain, and carry larger payloads than their historic